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The Mendoza Line

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ATLANTA – (Staff and Wire Service Report) -Two years ago, nobody would have believed Indiana could win a national championship. Now, it would be considered a surprise if the Hoosiers don’t win it all.

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No. 1 Indiana (15-0), the nation’s worst team in college football history entering the 2025 season, is a win away from its first title after dismantling No. 5 Oregon 56-22 in a College Football Playoff semifinal game in the Peach Bowl on Friday night.

Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza threw for 177 yards and five touchdowns and Indiana scored 21 points off three Oregon turnovers, as the program advanced to the CFP national championship game against No. 10 Miami on Jan. 19.

When head coach Curt Cignetti told the world that he wins and to “Google him” after his hiring in 2023, he was met with doubt from nonbelievers. After the Hoosiers arrived on the national scene a season ago, making their first CFP, there was some thought that they were a flash in the pan. Week after week, Cignetti just keeps proving himself right.

“There was a lot of skepticism after last year that we were a fluke,” Cignetti said. “That team did a lot of great things and got it all started. I think a lot of that negative stuff in the media fueled the guys returning to this team. We added some really key pieces. Great leaders, great players and we’ve just built off our successes.”

Elijah Sarratt had seven receptions for 75 yards and two touchdowns for the Hoosiers, who have won their two playoff games by a combined 69 points. There will be no shortage of story lines next Monday when Indiana faces the Hurricanes in their home stadium. For one, Mendoza returns to his hometown with a chance to lead the Hoosiers to college football’s first 16-0 season since the 1894 Yale Bulldogs.

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“I think playing a national championship would get anybody fired up and definitely stir up some emotions,” Mendoza said of returning to Miami. “I believe it’s going to be a great game. The Hurricanes are a fantastic team, led by a great coach in Coach (Mario) Cristobal. Even though it is the national championship, we don’t have to do anything that is out of character. We just gotta play our brand of football, and that’s what has led us to this point and 15 wins this season.”

Dante Moore threw for 285 yards and two touchdowns for Oregon (13-2), which outgained Indiana 378-362 despite being outmatched throughout the lopsided affair. Moore threw an interception and lost two fumbles for the Ducks, who came up short on their quest for the program’s first national championship.

“First thing is first, the quarterback has to protect the football,” Moore said. “They have a great defense, great disguise and different looks, but you can’t win football games if you’re causing turnovers. It’s something of course I need to work at. It comes with just reps. But overall, Indiana’s defense is great, but at the end of the day, we beat ourselves.”

Leading 35-7 at halftime, Indiana tacked on with Mendoza’s 13-yard touchdown pass to E.J. Williams Jr. with 8:52 left in the third quarter. After Dierre Hill Jr.’s 71-yard rush, Oregon stopped the bleeding with Jay Harris’ 2-yard rushing score and Moore’s two-point conversion pass to Jamari Johnson to make it 42-15.

Less than two minutes into the fourth quarter, Indiana blocked a punt and three plays later Mendoza threw his fifth touchdown pass, this time a 3-yarder to Sarratt with 11:36 remaining. Kaelon Black then scampered for a 23-yard rushing score to extend the lead to 41 on the Hoosiers’ next drive.

Moore’s 1-yard touchdown pass to Roger Saleapaga with 22 seconds left finished the game’s scoring.

Friday marked the end of another Oregon season that saw head coach Dan Lanning’s team falter against a fellow Big Ten foe. Last year, the Ducks were discarded by Ohio State by 20 points in the quarterfinals. Lanning, now 48-8 in four seasons at the helm, didn’t lose any pride in his team in Atlanta.

“You hurt for those guys because the world is going to judge everybody in that room based on the result tonight,” Lanning said. “I’m going to judge those guys on the kind of fathers they become some day, the kind of husbands they become some day. But in this moment you feel like a failure, and they’re not. They’re not failures. These guys won a lot of damn ballgames. They’ve had a lot of success. They’ve changed some peoples’ lives, but right now, that moment is going to hurt.”

After Oregon returned the opening kick to its 20-yard line, D’Angelo Ponds picked off Moore and returned it 25 yards for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage, giving the Hoosiers a 7-0 lead just 11 seconds in.

The Ducks answered with a 14-play, 75-yard scoring drive, stamped with Moore’s game-tying 19-yard scoring pass to Johnson at the 7:11 mark of the first quarter.

On Indiana’s first offensive possession, Mendoza completed each of his four passes for 41 yards, including an 8-yard touchdown pass to Omar Cooper Jr. with 40 seconds left in the first.

After the teams traded punts, Moore committed his second turnover as he had the ball knocked out of his hands inadvertently by Hill. Indiana’s Mario Landino recovered the fumble at Oregon’s 3-yard line, leading to Black’s 1-yard rushing score with 8:17 remaining in the first half to make it 21-7.

Moore took sacks on second and third down of Oregon’s ensuing drive, leading to another Ducks punt. Four plays later, Mendoza connected with Charlie Becker for a 36-yard touchdown strike to extend the lead to 28-7. Moore’s nightmarish first half continued on the next drive, as Daniel Ndukwe’s strip sack was recovered by Landino at the 21.

The Hoosiers took a 28-point lead on Mendoza’s 2-yard touchdown pass to Sarratt with 59 seconds left before halftime. Oregon’s Atticus Sappington came up short on a 56-yard field goal attempt on the final play of the first half.

– Field Level Media

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Jan 4

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – There are some really tough jobs in the sports industry. They are often thankless and low paying in comparison to what someone would make in a similar position “in the real world.” So many of the jobs in sports require extra long hours, working every weekend and holiday and being away from family on important dates (graduations, weddings, birthdays) and many of the holidays.

That is the price you pay for a challenging job in sports, hearing the “roar of the crowd,” and you usually know the job description and travel requirements before you sign up.

To be successful on the job, you need a tremendous support system behind the job and that is the family – a very understanding family to say the least.

Looking at tough jobs, there’s Charlie Baker of the NCAA.

Baker is the former Governor of Massachusetts and current president of the NCAA. He served two terms in the Commonwealth and signed up with the NCAA in March, 2023. He has an impossible job – the kind that has zero chance of being 100% successful as he serves far too many constituents in the world of collegiate athletics.

Simply put, Baker has too many mouths to feed. He also has four Power 4 obstacle courses to navigate (remember when it was Power 5 – a la the Pac 10-12)? Yes, the commissioners of the Power 4 football conferences, along with the newly created hierarchy of the College Football Playoffs, undermines the power of the NCAA. And, it’s getting worse by the day, by the season – across more sports than just football.

Local Boston sports columnist Dan Shaughnessy had a chance to sit down with the former Guv’nah and asked about the thankless job Baker endures: “There’s a lot about it that’s frustrating,” Baker said to Shaughnessy over lunch last week. “But I spent most of my career in healthcare and government, and those can be frustrating environments, as well. OK?“

Shaughnessy also sought insight from Peter Roby, a lifelong sports administrator as A.D. at Northeastern and Dartmouth who spent a five-year stint on the NCAA committee for men’s basketball and Roby did not disappoint: “No one talks about education or personal development at the highest levels. It’s about transfer portal, NIL revenue sharing, and the need for congressional intervention. Schools continue to complain about rising costs and the need for more revenue, yet they are paying out multimillion-dollar buyouts for fired coaches and hiring coaches at $12 million per year.

“The way things are trending, the NCAA will not exist in its current form in the next few years. It will only manage sports championships. All the legal settlements have resulted in billions of dollars being paid out over the next 10 years, and that money is coming from the NCAA and member schools. This has resulted in (fewer) programs being offered to students, coaches, and administrators by the NCAA, while rendering the NCAA powerless to pass overarching legislation or enforce current rules for fear of more litigation. All of this comes as a result of the failure of (University) presidential leadership and overreach by boards of trustees,” said Roby.

As the NCAA has morphed into a championship event organizing company – and a good one at that – the rest of the US collegiate sports industry turns its lonely eyes to yesteryear, seeking some common sense rules and general leadership. But, with the landscape and mega-dollars going the way they’re going (straight up – 📈), Baker has no chance to succeed as the head of a true national governing body for college sports.

Caught directly in the crosshairs is Division I collegiate basketball. They’re playing at the mercy of the big brother and major money-maker of football and the power has been slip-sliding away. Only the commissioners of the Power 4, the BIG EAST and West Coast Conferences stand a chance at carving out some reasonable existence in this big, bad world of footy-driven administration.

What does that leave to the (formerly) powerful National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC)?

It leaves them to do what they do best – Complain but do nothing.

The complainer-in-chief is Coach John Calapiri, the head coach of Arkansas (after see-saw stints as head coach at UMass, Memphis, Kentucky and a pro try-out with the (then) New Jersey, now Brooklyn Nets franchise.

Typing a transcript of Coach Cal’s December 29 beef would not do it justice, so here it is to watch and listen ‘til your heart’s delight:

Isn’t that fabulous? Calipari turned a Fayetteville, Arkansas post-game press availability into a cry for help at the U.S. Capitol or Arkansas State House. While some called it a tirade or rant, I’d label it as pleading for help, for leadership in athletics and guidance to police the college coaches from themselves.

You really have to agree with Coach Cal or UConn Coach Danny Hurley who suggested college basketball “could really use a commissioner.” A commissioner for college basketball (one job) would need to hire a No. 2a and 2b to oversee the men’s and women’s divisions, while also needing a top-notch labor lawyer. Properly done, college basketball could then former a Labor Relations Board who could hammer-out a common sense, reasonable Collective Bargaining Agreement which would even the playing field and account for USA citizens and international students. (Note: Calipari kept singling out European players, but there’s talent coming from every corner of the globe and most have never heard of an NCAA handbook.

“It’s such an incredible sport,” said Hurley. ““We’ve got the greatest sport(ing) event that this country has on a yearly basis that catches the imagination of the whole country, casuals, non-sports fans. Everyone’s got a bracket. You’ve got this incredible product that’s marketed horribly outside of March. It’s an incredible sport. We need a commissioner.

“A (Roger) Goodell or a David Stern. Somebody that’s gonna make decisions and start making moves that are in the best interest of college basketball, not just having coaches and players do what’s in the best interest of them,” said the outspoken Hurley.

Upon further review, it must be said that the college football and “Olympic sports” side would be much tougher to resolve than the problems of basketball and it’s not realistic to name a “Commissioner” for every sport, all reporting into Baker and it’s quite evident, in football, no one is going to give up power and that includes the highly paid commissioners of the Power 4, Notre Dame (as a whole), the TV industry (with existing or future contracts in hand), school presidents and athletic directors and a growing breed of player agents. All have their piece of the pie and aren’t planning to give up a slice.

Plus: what’s good for college football or basketball won’t work for baseball or softball and rules for all of the sports above (football, baseball, basketball, and softball) might not be good for college soccer or tennis or lacrosse or swimming or volleyball and so on. And, what’s great for the Big 12 might not work in the Atlantic 10.

Gonzaga coach Mark Few went so far as to suggest Congress weigh-in on the issue, saying, “Our lack of leadership has really shown,” Few said last Sunday after his team beat Pepperdine University 96-56. “Now it’s probably time to get some help from Congress, but they’re more screwed up than the NCAA.”

As it relates to Baylor’s signing of James Nnaji, the NCAA issued a prepared statement to college basketball site “Field of 68″,” declaring: “Schools are recruiting and seeking eligibility for more individuals with more international, semi-pro and professional experience than ever before and while the NCAA members have updated many rules following the House injunction, more rules must likely be updated to reflect the choices member schools are making. At the same time, NCAA eligibility rules have been invalidated by judges across the country, wreaking havoc on the system and leading to fewer opportunities for high school students, which is why the Association is asking Congress to intervene in these challenges.”

Congress considered one small slice of the debate earlier this year, as the Student Compensation and Opportunity through Rights and Endorsement (SCORE) Act fractured the Republican side of the aisle and garnered opposition from Democrats. Earlier this month, House leadership canceled a vote on the SCORE Act, which would have regulated compensation student-athletes receive from NIL deals.

Earlier, the College Athletics Reform Act (CARA) was introduced by Congresswoman Lori Trahan (D-Mass-5th), and the bill attempted to protect athletes’ rights and create a sustainable system for college sports. It included provisions to establish federal standards for NIL rights and enhance opportunities for women’s and Olympic sports. It went nowhere.

So much for Congressional relief.

What’s the solution?

Here’s WWYI’s take for a road map to sanity:

  1. Take Hurley’s recommendation and hire a Commissioner for NCAA Basketball.
  2. That job should go to Joel Litvin, former President of Basketball for the NBA.
  3. Allow Litvin to hire any combination of labor lawyers, advisors and “basketball people” to become his Labor Relations Board (include Jim Tooley/Sean Ford of USA Basketball, Tommy Amaker, head coach at Harvard, retired Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and Stu Jackson, Commissioner of the West Coast Conference. An advisor named Russ Granik would chair the meetings and head up the Labor board for both men and women.
  4. Prompt the basketball players (both men and women) to hire labor lawyers.
  5. Negotiate a fair Collective Bargaining Agreement to govern the sport(s).
  6. Prompt the NABC to form a labor division.
  7. Negotiate a Collective Bargaining Agreement with the coaches.
  8. Name Dan Gavitt as the head of NCAA men’s basketball championships, a job he’s done quite well with since 2012.
  9. Continue with Amanda Braun, director of athletics at Milwaukee, to chair the women’s committee for championships.
  10. In addition to her role as Commissioner of the BIG EAST, ask Val Ackerman to chair the Labor Relations Board for women’s basketball.

Executing the items from the Top Ten list will take some serious doing and it would be followed by months and months of very hard work and lengthy negotiations, but it will set a firm, new path to actual sanity for the sport of college basketball. It would set clear-cut rules for basketball operations, the signing of players and payment structure. It would address incoming players, both transfers and first-year (domestic and international). It would institute a maximum team salary cap for schools to operate and abide by, and that could be done conference-by-conference with different salary levels for Div. II and III. It’s not a cookie cutter approach.

Once negotiated, Litvin would oversee the entire legal, basketball and business operation of the NCAA division for basketball on an on-going basis with the staff of his choosing to govern both men’s and women’s basketball

The Patriots parted with Bill Belichick, giving Jerod Mayo a one-year audition as head coach before firing him and hiring Mike Vrabel in January 2025 (file)

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Two pro teams faced two tough decisions. The New England Patriots fired their coach, popular former player Jerod Mayo, after only one season when he finished with a 4-13 record. The firing came about a year ago. Mayo was the hand-picked successor to the great Bill Belichick and New England Patriots team owner Bob Kraft has a few years to consider his choices as the Belichick era of Patriots football limped to a close after 24 seasons, six Super Bowl titles, nine AFC championships and 17 AFC East titles, including 11 consecutive division crowns.

Last January, Kraft pulled the trigger on Mayo’s firing and the hiring of Mike Vrabel on January 12, 2025 – possibly Kraft’s best move since writing his name on contracts addressed to Belichick and retired quarterback Tom Brady, a.k.a. – The Franchise. Vrabel had played linebacker for the Patriots from 2001 to 2008 and was an integral member of three of the six Super Bowl championship teams. After retiring as a player, he served as Tennessee Titans coach from 2018 to 2023, posting a 54-45 regular-season record and 2-3 mark in the NFL Playoffs, including a trip to the AFC Championship Game in 2019.

It was a tough decision to pull the rug out from under Mayo after only one year at the helm, but hiring Vrabel was the right decision at the key time and Vrabel proved Kraft right by leading the Patriots to a surprising AFC East Division title in 2025-26, and there might be more to come.

Down in New York, there was a tough coaching decision but it was at the opposite end of the spectrum of winning. The New York Knicks had eliminated the defending champion Boston Celtics in the 2025 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals and NY advanced to the Conference Finals where they lost to the youthful Indiana Pacers, 4-2.

Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau completed his fifth season with the Knicks, improving each and every year since 2021-22 to a 50+ win season and New York’s best finish since losing to the San Antonio Spurs in the 1999 NBA Finals.

Knicks front office guru Leon Rose decided to make a change and dismissed Thibs and hired Mike Brown who has New York atop the NBA’s Atlantic Division whiel guiding them to an NBA Cup title in December.

Again, a very difficult decision, but the right one. A gutsy call by Rose.

Brown is playing a more open offensive style while utilizing more players in his rotation. The defense stressed by Thibodeau has not been forgotten by the same core crew to upend the Celtics last spring, but undoubtedly, the Knicks will have fresh legs and ample offense to take on all opponents come April.

Two difficult coaching decisions with two outcomes – both the best for each team.

TIDBITS & NUGGETS: The injury bug keeps biting the NBA. Aside from all-stars like Boston’s Jayson Tatum and Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton being out indefinitely, Dallas’ Anthony Davis being in & out of the lineup all season, the league took a major hit with the fact Denver’s incredible Nikola Jokić is out for some three-to-four weeks with a hyper-extended knee injury. The injury came days after Jokić posted a 56-16-15 line in a Nuggets victory over

A non-comprehensive list of players currently OUT or questionable because of injury include (Player, Team):

  • Trae Young, Atlanta
  • Jayson Tatum, Boston
  • Miles Bridges, Charlotte
  • Josh Giddey, Chicago
  • Coby White, Chicago
  • Larry Nance, Jr., Cleveland
  • Max Strus, Cleveland
  • Anthony Davis, Dallas
  • Dereck Lively, Dallas
  • Kyrie Irving, Dallas
  • Dante Exum, Dallas
  • Aaron Gordon, Denver
  • Nikola Jokić, Denver
  • Christian Braun, Denver
  • Seth Curry, Golden State
  • Fred Van Fleet, Houston
  • Obi Toppin, Indiana
  • Tyrese Haliburton, Indiana
  • Ivica Zubac, LA Clippers
  • Bradley Beal, LA Clippers
  • Rui Hachimura, LA Lakers
  • Austin Reaves, LA Lakers
  • Zach Edney, Memphis
  • Scottie Pippen Jr., Memphis
  • Ty Jerome, Memphis
  • John Konchar, Memphis
  • Tyler Herro, Miami
  • Taurean Prince, Milwaukee
  • Terrence Shannon Jr., Minnesota
  • Dejounte Murray, New Orleans
  • Mitchell Robinson, New York
  • Josh Hart, New York
  • Landry Shamet, New York
  • Jaylin Williams, OKC
  • Isaiah Hartenstein, OKC
  • Nikola Topic, OKC
  • Jalen Suggs, Orlando
  • Franz Wagner, Orlando
  • Kelly Oubre Jr., Philadelphia
  • Grayson Allen, Phoenix
  • Jalen Green, Phoenix
  • Jerami Grant, Portland
  • Scoot Henderson, Portland
  • Jrue Holiday, Portland
  • Damian Lillard, Portland
  • Zach LaVine, Scaramento
  • Domantas Sabonis, Sacramento
  • Devin Vassil, San Antonio
  • Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio
  • Jacob Poeltl, Toronto
  • Ace Bailey, Utah
  • Walter Kessler, Utah
  • Georges Niang, Utah
  • Cam Whitmore, Washington

That’s a major league list of injuries, but NBA Commissioner Adam Silver made note at his NBA Cup media availability that the number of injuries this season are down from a year ago.

“All I can deal with is the data itself, and the data we have so far this season is we have the lowest number of injuries in the last three years,” said Silver to a pointed question on league-wide injuries.

“I’ll stop there and say, regardless where the level of injuries stands versus prior years, of course the soft tissue injuries concern us. All injuries concern us, for that matter. The most frustrating issue right now, and the one that we have seemingly the least control over, is keeping star players on the floor.

“I think we have made progress. We’ve made adjustments in scheduling. We’ve made adjustments in the sharing of information among teams. We’ve made adjustments in the care of players. But there are no silver bullets here.

“I think we have to be true to the data. So when people say because of the Cup the season was denser leading up to now — it wasn’t, full stop.

“The level of density up until this point in the season is roughly what it’s been for the last decade. It’s just factually not true that, as a result of Cup scheduling, the first part of the season created a denser schedule.

“We are seeing an increase in pace of play. You could measure that in different ways. But measured by speed in which players are bringing the ball to half court — yes, that’s up. That may be causing some additional injuries. But what do you do about that? That’s something we’re looking at.

“Also part of your question, we’re very focused with our team doctors on the data we’re seeing and the evidence in terms of the wear and tear on players’ bodies when they get to the league. I think, as you said, we’re seeing young players now specialize at 10 years old and up as opposed to a generation before them that — I’m looking at James Jones — the top athletes played a different sport in every season and they developed their musculature in a different way.

“We think that’s preventative when you have a balanced system. Now it’s not even just that athletes aren’t switching from — young athletes aren’t switching from season to season, they’re literally playing year-round.

“Even modern NBA players, they finish the season, they take a day off and they’re right back in the gym. It may be that over time that with better data, this may be another area where AI can ingest enormous amounts of data and video and look at patterns, might be able to solve some of these problems.

“So the answer is it’s frustrating. It’s frustrating for our teams. It’s frustrating for our fans. But I do think we have to be true to what the evidence is as opposed to saying there’s a narrative out there that injuries are up or injuries are up because of scheduling. They’re not.

“But, we continue to slice and dice the data in every way we can, plus we look at qualitative information. People who have been around this game for a long time, what are they seeing? Are players training differently? Are there better techniques out there to keep players healthier? By the way, this is not a problem unique to the NBA. It’s tremendously frustrating in all sports to see star players in particular go down, but of course any player.

“We’re very focused on it. There’s no amount of money we’re not willing to invest in it to make those investments to see if there’s better resources out there. I would say also, Andre Iguodala and the Players Association have been tremendously cooperative, as well. We all have a common interest in keeping players on the floor.

MAKE NOTE: with Nikola Jokić of Denver and Victor Wembanyama of San Antonio injured and their February playing futures unknown, the International team at the NBA All-Star Game might take a major hit to its potential “Starting 5.” Initially looking like a lock to win the NBA’s new All-Star Classic, now, it’s a toss-up once again. The Internationals still have the advantage (think: Shai).

HOW MANY DAYS? Here’s a look-see at the number of days between January 4th and …

33 – Days Until Opening Ceremonies of the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics

37 – Days Until Pitchers & Catchers Report for MLB Spring Training

49 – Days Until the Gold Medal Game for Men’s Ice Hockey at the Olympics

61 – Days Until the annual MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference (Seaport)

70 – Days until NCAA Selection Sunday

81 – Days Until MLB Opening Day

89 – Days Until Red Sox Home Opener (vs. SD Padres)

106 – Days Until the Boston Marathon (Patriots’ Day)

Alabama Shakes Off Oklahoma

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NORMAN – (Wire Service Report) – Ty Simpson threw for 232 yards and two touchdowns to overcome a slow start and help No. 9 Alabama rally for a 34-24 win over No. 8 Oklahoma on Friday in the College Football Playoff opener.

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Alabama trailed Oklahoma (10-3) by 17 points in the first half but roared back to tie it then controlled the second half to advance to the quarterfinals. The Crimson Tide became the first road team to win a CFP game on campus after all four home teams won in the opening round of last year’s inaugural 12-team field. Alabama took the lead early in the third quarter when Simpson hit Lotzeir Brooks for a 30-yard touchdown to make it 24-17. Brooks had five catches for 79 yards and two touchdowns.

After the Crimson Tide extended their lead to 10, Oklahoma answered, cutting the deficit to 27-24 on Deion Burks’ 37-yard touchdown catch from John Mateer two plays into the fourth quarter. Alabama extended its lead, though, on Daniel Hill’s 6-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth. The score was set up by Germie Bernard’s 24-yard catch where he wrested the ball from the Sooners’ Jacobe Johnson at the Oklahoma five yard line. Oklahoma’s Tate Sandell missed a pair of field goals late, barely pushing the first wide, then finishing just short on a 51-yard try with just more than a minute remaining, ending the Sooners’ chances of a comeback.

Mateer finished with 307 passing yards and two touchdowns while Burks finished with seven catches for 107 yards as Oklahoma outgained Alabama 362-260. Mateer put Oklahoma on the board with an 8-yard touchdown run on the Sooners’ second drive, and Sandell’s 51-yard field goal made it 10-0 in the final minute of the first quarter. Sandell, the Lou Groza Award winner as the nation’s top kicker, tied an FBS record with his eighth field goal of 50 of more yards on the season.

The Sooners extended their lead to 17-0 less than five minutes into the second quarter on Mateer’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Sategna III.

To that point, the Crimson Tide didn’t have a first down, going three-and-out on each of their first three possessions. But then Alabama started turning the momentum. Simpson led a 75-yard touchdown drive, putting the Crimson Tide on the board with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Brooks on fourth-and-2. A blocked punt gave Alabama the ball at the Oklahoma 30, and the Crimson Tide made it a one-possession game with a 35-yard field goal by Conor Talty with just more than two minutes remaining in the half.

Alabama wasn’t done yet, as Zabien Brown picked off a Mateer pass to the flat and had plenty of clear space ahead of him, returning it 50 yards for a touchdown to tie the game heading into halftime.

–Field Level Media

Houston Shocks Duke at Final Four

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SAN ANTONIO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The University of Houston’s LJ Cryer ignited a 14-point comeback in the final 8:02, and teammate J’Wan Roberts made the go-ahead free throws and Houston stunned Duke 70-67 in a memorable Final Four clash between No. 1 seeds on Saturday night at the Alamo Dome.

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Cryer shot 6-of-9 from 3-point range and led the Cougars with 26 points, while Roberts had 11 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. Emanuel Sharp made massive plays down the stretch and finished with 16 points for Houston (35-4), which will face Florida in the national championship game on Monday night.

Duke’s Cooper Flagg had 27 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three blocks (35-4) but was whistled for a foul with 19 seconds left that allowed Houston to move in front after the Blue Devils led most of the game.

Houston out-rebounded Duke 42-31 to make up for 37.7 percent shooting from the floor. Duke made just 39.4 percent of its shots after hitting at least 50 percent in each of its first four NCAA Tournament games.

Duke appeared safe when Houston’s Joseph Tugler made contact with the ball when the Blue Devils were attempting an inbound with 1:14 to go. Duke received one technical foul shot and possession.

Kon Knueppel (16 points) made the foul shot for a 67-61 lead, but Houston got a stop on Tugler’s block and Sharp made a major 3-pointer to cut it to 67-64.

James’ inbound pass was stolen by Mylik Wilson, and Houston clawed within one on Tugler’s putback dunk with 25 seconds left. The Cougars then fouled Duke, Tyrese Proctor missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and Roberts drew a foul from Flagg on the rebound.

Roberts’ free throws gave Houston its first lead since 6-5. Flagg’s midrange floater with eight seconds left hit the front of the rim and Houston got the rebound. Cryer hit two free throws for the final margin.

Flagg hit a jumper at the 10:31 mark of the second half and Proctor added one free throw for a 59-45 lead, but the Blue Devils missed their next six field-goal attempts.

Cryer had a six-point possession thanks to a flagrant-1 foul call on Mason Gillis under the basket when Cryer made a three. Houston got one foul shot and possession, and Cryer hit a jumper to cut it to 59-51 with 7:43 to play.

Houston pulled within 59-55 before Proctor hit two free throws to end a 4:33 Duke scoring drought. Then, Maliq Brown kicked the ball to Flagg in the right corner for a 3-pointer with 3:03 left.

–Field Level Media

March Madness Tip-Off

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While We’re Young (Ideas) – Special NCAA Edition

By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

PROVIDENCE – Highly respected sports industry guru Tony Ponturo, he of multi-time nominee and winner for both the Most Powerful Man in Sports and in the theatre industry, wrote a thought-leadership book entitled, “Revenge of the C+ Student.” Ponturo, a two time TONY Award winner for his efforts on Broadway, reviving “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” and producing 2010 Best Musical “Memphis,” helped make the brands “Bud” and “Bud Light” household names on a worldwide basis. Just ask The Budweiser Clydesdales.

Ponturo spent 26 years selling Bud, the exact same amount of time this columnist spent working for David Stern at the National Basketball Association. Looking at those two parallel lines, and enlightened by Ponturo’s book and his transcript, I’d love to author a similar sports business practice book and I’d call it, “At Least I Was Good at Geography.”

To wit, I give you this year’s brackets for NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball.

In the East, we have:

  • No. 2 Alabama
  • No. 3 Wisconsin
  • No. 4 Arizona
  • No. 5 Oregon
  • No. 6 BYU (Utah)
  • No. 7 St. Mary’s Moraga (California)
  • No. 14 Montana

In the West, we have:

No. 1 Florida

No. 2 St. John’s (New York)

No. 3 Texas Tech (Lubbock, Texas)

No. 4 Maryland

No. 5 Memphis (Tennessee)

No. 6 Missouri

No. 8 UConn (Hartford, Connecticut area)

No. 9 Oklahoma

No. 14 UNC Wilmington (North Carolina)

No. 16 Norfolk State (Norfolk, Virginia)

There’s a few more.

In the South, there’s Michigan State (Lansing), Marquette (Wisconsin), Yale (New Haven, Connecticut), and Michigan (Ann Arbor) – four schools where you can’t get much further North, unless Canada does become the 51st State and UConn is south of Yukon.

In the Midwest, the bracket claims, UCLA (Los Angeles), Gonzaga (Spokane, Washington), Utah State (Logan, Utah), and then a slew of Southeastern or Southern schools like Wofford (Spartanburg, South Carolina), High Point (North Carolina), Clemson (South Carolina), Kentucky, McNeese (Lake Charles, Louisiana), Tennessee and Georgia.

There are other examples, but you surely get the point.

In recent years, the NCAA made adjustments to the brackets so an Eastern team such as St. John’s (full disclosure as my alma mater) can play in the West Regional but remain in Providence, Rhode Island to do so. But, success in Providence sends teams in that pod to San Francisco while a successful weekend in Seattle for Arizona or Oregon sends a team to Newark New Jersey.

The tournament itself increased from 64 to 68 teams in 2001, so we’ve been bickering about this stuff for decades. Still, there is no resolve and it’s pretty bad when there’s no Big East team in the East.

Admittedly, this is nothing new being reported. The days of a truly East vs West NCAA Tournament went out with the 16 team set-up which gave the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) in New York the golden opportunity of securing a very deep field in the late ‘60s and early ‘70’s. As the times changed and the Big Dance played to a bigger ballroom of dancers, the money kicked in and TV programmers maxed-out the billions being spent.

Suffice it to say, the names of the regionals should no longer be East, West, South and Midwest, and maybe the NCAA should take a page out of the NHL’s book and rename the basketball regionals something like:

  • Lester Patrick
  • Conn Smythe
  • James Norris
  • Charles Francis Adams

Joking aside, it’s time to rid the tournament of its D- grade in Geography, as the Men’s and Women’s basketball committees divvy-up the schools with goals other than to stack them to represent a region of the USA.

May it be suggested:

  • Dave Gavitt Division (East)
  • John Wooden Division (West)
  • Ray Meyer Division (Midwest)
  • Guy Lewis Division (South-Texas-Southwest representation)

Those names, in tribute of Dave Gavitt (founder of the BIG EAST), John Wooden (the great UCLA coach), Ray Meyer (coached Chicago’s DePaul University from 1942 to 1984) and Guy Lewis (coach of University of Houston from 1956 to 1986). To pay proper respect to college basketball in the United States, the Most Outstanding Player from each division would be recognized and awarded with:

  • Gavitt MOP received the Patrick Ewing Trophy
  • Wooden MOP honored with the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Trophy
  • Meyer MOP receives the Oscar Robertson Trophy
  • Lewis MOP honored with the Junior Bridgeman Trophy

Should the tournament choose to expand, we could very easily add:

  • Gonzaga Division (Northwest) – MOP award John Stockton Trophy
  • Coach K Division (Southeast) – MOP gets the Michael Jordan Trophy (apologies to Grant Hill, Ralph Sampson, Artis Gilmore and Len Bias).

Those two divisional mentioned do not need further explanation, I hope.

The bottom line as the 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament begins, is that the famed, crack committee did a pretty good job of selecting the right teams and fairly distributing them across the four existing regional pods, sans the Group of Death they sent out West.

The West is so stacked, a hot team like Florida, after its No. 1 vs No. 16 tilt against Norfolk State, will have a rough road to the Final 4, including:

  • Winner of UConn v.Oklahoma
  • Winner of Memphis v. Colo State/or/Maryland v. Grand Canyon
  • A Regional Final against No. 2 St. John’s or others (Kansas/Texas Tech) etc

There’s gotta be a better way.
They were partying at West End Johnnies at an NCAA Regional in Boston

PICKS: Here are a few picks that are going into a combination of my two or three bracket submission with friends and family. (Note: I always bang out one bracket on Selection Sunday night and set it aside). Then with more thought and research I do another bracket for use in pools.

TEAMS CONSIDERED HOT: These teams were playing the best over the past few weeks and into their conference tournaments:

  1. Florida
  2. Duke
  3. Houston
  4. Auburn
  5. Tennessee
  6. Michigan State
  7. St John’s
  8. Alabama
  9. Texas Tech
  10. Iowa State

FACTS: In the Round of 64, the higher seed wins 71.5% and that includes No. 8 v. No. 9 which are really equal … In the Second Round, the better seeds win at a 73.1% clip. After that, the advantage for the higher seeds declines gradually:

  • Sweet 16 – 63.8% victory pace for higher seed
  • Elite 8 – 55%

In terms of vulnerable seeds since 2009, the No. 6 seeds are (29-31) against the No. 11s. In just the last 10 years, No. 11 seeds are 22-18 vs. No. 6

Applying the 6 vs 11 raw data to this particular year’s bracket set-up surfaces a few interesting upset possibilities:

  • In the East bracket, can No. 11 VCU upset No. 6 BYU in Denver where you have to figure in the travel and altitude?
  • In the South, No. 6 Ole Miss has to play the hot play-in winner of North Carolina.
  • In the West, No. 6 Missouri (22-11) has a tough draw vs. No. 11 Drake (30-3).
  • And, in the Midwest bracket, No. 6 Illinois will face play-in winner Xavier, a team that finished the Big East regular season quite strong with seven straight victories to close out the season before meeting and losing to Marquette at the Garden.

The teams entering the tournament that have executed the best in terms of both Offensive and Defensive efficiency:

  • Auburn
  • Duke
  • Florida
  • Houston
  • Arizona
  • Tennessee
  • Louisville

Not to bore anyone with a full Round-by-Round, Pick-by-Pick selection show, (see Jay Bilas’ column on ESPN.com as he does a much better job than everyone else put together), I’ll simply list my Regional Finalist predictions. Yes, they are rather high seeds.

  • East: Duke vs. Wisconsin
  • Midwest: Houston vs. Tennessee
  • South: Auburn vs. Michigan State
  • West: Florida vs St. John’s

No matter what – whether your bracket is torn up tomorrow or your favorite team survives and advances – it’s time for March Madness. Enjoy the ride. Enjoy the spectacle of the best of College Basketball (Men’s and Women’s) with a love of the game and not the X and O marks on a piece of paper, otherwise known in American culture as “your bracket.”

TL

Green Carries Creighton Over UConn

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NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Creighton’s Jasen Green scored a career-high 19 points and second-seeded Blue Jays withstood a comeback try by third-seeded UConn and earned a 71-62 victory Friday night in the semifinals of the Big East tournament.

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The Creighton Bluejays (24-9) advanced to the championship game for the fifth time since joining the Big East, but they have yet to win the title. Creighton will face top-seeded St. John’s, which pulled away to beat Marquette 79-63 in the first semifinal.

Green made all seven of his shots in the first half, and the Bluejays led by 11 at halftime. He got his only second-half basket with 2:43 left when he sank a turnaround jumper at the left side of the paint over Alex Karaban, who was playing with four fouls.

Green, who entered averaging 4.3 points, eclipsed his previous career high of 14 against Georgetown set Feb. 23. He scored one point in 21 minutes during Creighton’s double-overtime comeback win over 10th-seeded DePaul on Thursday.

The biggest night of Green’s career occurred when UConn keyed on Ryan Kalkbrenner and held the star center to 12 points on 5-of-13 shooting.

Kalkbrenner had help from others besides Green. Jamiya Neal also scored 19, including a dunk in the final seconds that infuriated the Huskies and resulted in double technical fouls. Steven Ashworth contributed 12 a night after hitting the tying 3 with 21 seconds left in regulation.

The Bluejays shot 75 percent in the opening half and 52 percent overall.

Solo Ball and Liam McNeeley scored 13 apiece as the Huskies (23-10) had their five-game winning streak halted. Hassan Diarra added 11, but Karaban was held to six on 3-of-10 shooting and picked up his fourth foul with about 15 1/2 minutes left.

McNeeley made 6 of 20 shots for the Huskies, who hit 42.6 percent from the floor and were 8 of 21 (38.1 percent) from 3-point range.

Karaban’s drive to the rim forged a 28-28 tie with 6:44 remaining in the first half, but Creighton got others besides Kalkbrenner involved in an 18-7 run to end the half. Green scored 10 first-half points, including a basket on a drive to the hoop with 29 seconds left before the break to help the Bluejays hold a 46-35 edge at halftime.

Kalkbrenner hit a difficult jumper in the lane for a 55-38 lead with 16:27 left. The Huskies answered with 12 straight points, getting within 55-50 when Aidan Mahaney sank a 3-pointer from the right side with 12:11 left.

The Huskies were within 59-56 following consecutive hoops from Tarris Reed Jr. Neal sank a trey with 5:24 to go for a six-point edge after UConn coach Dan Hurley berated the officials for an out-of-bounds call against his team. Creighton hiked its lead to 66-58 when Green made his final shot.

–Field Level Media

NCAA: Two-Time Transfers Eligible

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CHARLESTON, W VIRGINIA – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The NCAA has been notifying member schools that two-time transfers will be eligible to participate in their chosen sports, at least temporarily, and bypass the “year in residency” rule.

The change in policy came after a federal judge in Charleston, West Virginia issued a temporary 14-day restraining order against the NCAA, who were denying athletes the chance to compete at their new schools for one year upon second transfer.

The lawsuit was filed by the states of West Virginia, Colorado, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Tennessee and stated the requirement of two-time transfers to sit out a year violated antitrust law. The state of Ohio was at the forefront of the suit.

The decision applies to all student athletes under NCAA jurisdiction in the United States.

“As a result of today’s decision impacting Division I student-athletes, the Association will not enforce the year in residency requirement for multiple-time transfers and will begin notifying member schools,” the NCAA said in a statement to The Athletic.

 

 

One athlete immediately impacted is West Virginia men’s basketball player RaeQuan Battle, who transferred from Montana State after playing two seasons for the Big Sky school. Battle began his college career playing two seasons for Washington of the Pac-12.

He had applied for a waiver under the NCAA’s mental-health provision but was denied in late October. Wednesday’s ruling will potentially allow Battle to play Saturday when the Mountaineers play UMass in Springfield, Mass.

West Virginia would be happy to see Battle on the court as he averaged 17.7 points last season while leading Montana State to the NCAA Tournament.

 

 

“Very pleased our state-based coalition was able to achieve a temporary restraining order against the NCAA’s transfer rule,” West Virginia attorney general Patrick Morrisey posted on social media. “Big win for RaeQuan Battle!”

A second hearing will be heard when the restraining order expires in two weeks when a preliminary injunction potentially could be issued. That would keep athletes in question eligible until a potential trial takes place.

According to The Athletic’s report, Ohio attorney general Dave Yost said that at least 99 athletes had been denied a waiver to compete immediately upon a second transfer and that another 44 are awaiting a decision on a waiver.

–Field Level Media

TL’s Sunday Sports Notebook | July 30

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Issue of Name, Image and Likeness Created Unrealistic Congressional P.O.V.

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – This week saw two – count ‘em – TWO – Congressional bills to create oversight on the issue of Name, Imagine and Likeness for College athletics. Those two bills, will be added to a previous submission by Senator Lindsay Graham and a host of other lawmakers – Fed and State – have made for a “4th Down and Long” in addressing the entire foundation of the NIL concept.

With the latest, call it the third whiff, the United States House and Senate should be out!

On March 29, 2023, Congress held a hearing which came less than a month after former Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker had assumed the position as President of the NCAA. It also came about a month after the NCAA had its first ruling in an NIL infraction case.

In early February, 2023 Congressman Chris Murphy (D-CT) introduced the “Collegiate Athlete Economic Freedom Act,” a bill co-sponsored by Massachusetts Congressional Rep Lori Trahan (D-MA) who is a former NCAA volleyball athlete from Georgetown University.

The Murphy/Trahan bill did not have specific language pertaining to an employee-employer relationship, a key legal designation that has all of the college athletics stakeholders concerned about that relationship and its influence on future legal maneuvers. Murphy’s bill also advocated athletes should receive a portion of athletic department revenues. Some of that language is included in the “College Athletes Bill of Rights” filed in December of 2022 by Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT).

On May 19, Senator Lindsey Graham drafted and introduced the “College Sports NIL Clearinghouse Act of 2023.”

“The purpose behind the NIL clearinghouse would be to monitor compliance, establish and enforce penalties and provide educational information to athletes. The legislation provides some protections to athletes, including prohibiting institutions from limiting playing time or making changes to scholarships as retaliation for an NIL deal. Yet, universities would have the power to prohibit their athletes from entering into agreements that would violate state law or the student conduct code.

“Institutions would also have the right to, “provide each enrolled student-athlete a list of entities” athletes would be prohibited from entering business relationships with. The clearinghouse would provide any information to the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Justice or the attorney general of any state.”

Graham’s draft also called for third party oversight of Name, Image and Likeness for college athletics, removing the NCAA office and Baker from the equation, a proposal that would further place the NCAA in a position of weakness. The shifting power in collegiate sports has moved greatly to the College Football Playoffs and to the individual college conferences – all playing games of musical chairs to fight over worthy college football programs to hoist from one conference to another (see: Colorado, UConn and the constantly swirling rumors of expansion to the BIG 12).

The most recent Congressional take was the “Protecting Athletes, Schools, and Sports Act of 2023,” which contrasts with previously submitted “The College Athlete Economic Freedom Act.” The recent take, introduced by Senators Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) and Joe Manchin, (D-West Virgina), includes more protection to the NCAA and its member universities and colleges.

It had the backing, as you might expect, from Baker who issued a statement saying, “This important legislation is a major step in the right direction to ensure the health and safety of student-athletes, includes key measures to increase consumer protections and transparency in the NIL market, and aims to protect women’s and Olympic sports.” (Note: Olympic sports is an easy way for colleges to say – NOT College Football).

At issue as the Federal legislators play dueling bills is the fact individual States are getting into the act, usually with input from their local institutions all looking out for their own small world and short-term success.

Alabama football coach Nick Saban addressed key issues when he did a lengthy interview with the online publication that used to look like Sports Illustrated. Touching on all aspects of the NIL craze, Saban said, “I’m not trying to spearhead a solution. I talk to (SEC Commissioner) Greg Sankey a lot. I talk to [SEC associate commissioner] William King. I hear the other coaches in our meetings. I’m just trying to help provide information to [the United States Senators] so they know what the issues really are. I’m trying to also direct them to people I think can input the solution, like Greg Sankey and those kinds of people. Everybody needs to look at the issue from 1,000 feet. I don’t want to take opportunities away from players. I just think the mechanisms around how they get those opportunities need to be more standard for everyone.”

Saban speaks from a lofty position at the top of the power base pyramid of college football, but he notes the quagmire (awkward, complex and hazardous position) created as the introduction of NIL collides with college athletics.

“I think one of the things is everybody having a different state law,” said Saban. “A lot of people blame the NCAA for a lot of this, but the NCAA sometimes gets caught. … Because of the changes we’ve had in what’s legal and not, they can’t enforce their own rules and they’re in a little bit of a dilemma, too.”

Ya think, Nick?

As previous typing here at WWYI, the main issue the NCAA, the schools, the Feds and the States all seem to miss is the fact NIL now means “Now, It’s Legal,” for all the friends of the programs, the boosters (aka very wealthy alum), the local businesses supporting colleges, the former athletes who’ve struck it rich in the professional ranks, and “want to give back” to the place where they started their careers.

The Tuberville-Manchin bill proclaims, ““Student athletes should be able to take advantage of NIL promotional activities without impacting their ability to play collegiate sports,” said Tuberville, the former college football coach. “But we need to ensure the integrity of our higher education system, remain focused on education, and keep the playing field level.”

Yet, it’s first line of defense is a colossally unrealistic – let’s call it stupid – statement of the proposed law, noting:

INDUCEMENTS—

1) IN GENERAL—An individual, booster, or third party may not offer or provide a prospective student athlete or a student athlete with any compensation or benefit that is intended to induce the prospective student athlete or student athlete to enroll in or transfer to a particular institution of higher education.

Yeah, right!

Where does that gem leave the issue?

What sayith the wisdom of WWYI? – “The lethal Bouillabaisse of NIL (Now, It’s Legal) consists of desperate and disparate worlds, all with their own specific agendas. They all stir the nasty ingredients put forth by State legislation, Federal legislation, the NCAA, the Colleges and Universities, the so-called Student-Athletes who play Football and Basketball, the Student-Athletes who do not play Football and Basketball, the TV networks, the wealthy boosters/former athletes, the Conferences, the Conference Commissioners, individual school Athletic Directors, and the “Collectives” – business groups trying to make a buck by brokering NIL deals often graced by the University but not necessarily in the best interest of the individual athletes.

Many of the issues are confronted each and every day by professional sports entities who pay players on the table, as opposed to the old-school ways of under-the-table. The league/franchise owners and the players’ unions sit down and negotiate a “Collective Bargaining Agreement” that addresses every issue of league/sport operation – from regular season compensation to playoff shares, from schedules to travel regulations, from per diem to mandatory appearances, from marketing rights to use of IP (trademarks) and more.

The more the NCAA and its member schools, along with the Feds and States, try to avoid the pro model, the deeper they fall into the NIL rabbit hole.

Sooner, rather than later, there will be no way out.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: The artist formerly known as The New York Times Sports section, aka The Athletic, created a FAN-Tastic take-out highlighting the work of Boston Celtics tv play-by-play man and Gowdy Award Hall-of-Famer Mike Gorman. The Athletic’s Jared Weiss did the reporting and typing and, quite frankly, deserves consideration for the annual Pro Basketball Writers Association awards for his work.

The story is a must-read and it was brought to WWYI’s attention by column-consumer and now contributor Rich Hussey, an NBC Sports Hall-of-Famer in his own right.

Back to the Athletic – the article highlighted Gorman’s entire career, his relationship with the late Tommy Heinsohn – his TV sidekick for 40 years (2,800+ broadcasts) and his plans to retire after this season.

One thing, well make it two things are for sure. Mike Gorman and the late Tommy Heinsohn will never be replaced. Never.

Jim Brown, NFL and Lax Legend, 87

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LOS ANGELES – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Syracuse University and National Football League legend Jim Brown passed away Saturday, May 20, 2023. Brown is the only man enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame (1995), National Lacrosse Hall of Fame (1984) and the Professional Football Hall of Fame (1971), where he was inducted in his first year of eligibility. The 87-year-old is survived by his wife, Monique, their children, Aris and Morgan, and his daughter, Kim, and his sons, Kevin and James Jr.

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“Jim Brown is widely regarded as one of the greatest athletes to ever wear Orange,” said Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud. “Jim was a four-sport athlete at Syracuse who was an All-American in both football and lacrosse. An NFL legend, he set numerous records, won countless awards and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, among others. He epitomized Syracuse University’s deep commitment to military service having been commissioned as a second lieutenant through Army ROTC and continuing his military service in the Army Reserves while playing in the NFL. He went on to be a successful actor, tireless advocate for social justice and one of Syracuse’s proudest ambassadors. I extend my deepest condolences to Monique, his family and all who knew, loved and admired him.”

Brown’s career at Syracuse started the legacy of the number 44. As a senior in 1956, he was a unanimous All-American and finished fifth in Heisman Trophy voting. That season he set the SU record for highest rush average in a season (6.2), most rushing touchdowns in a game (6) and most points scored in a game (43). He ran for 986 yards — third-most in the country despite Syracuse playing only eight games — and scored 14 touchdowns. In the Cotton Bowl, he rushed for 132 yards, scored three touchdowns and kicked three extra points. Syracuse University retired the #44 in 2005 — recognizing Brown, Ernie Davis and Floyd Little, and all those who wore the number.

“Jim Brown is one of the greatest all around athletes of all time,” said Syracuse Director of Athletics John Wildhack. “At Syracuse he was the first of the famed 44s and excelled at lacrosse, basketball and track & field. In addition to his athletic accomplishments, he was a civil rights pioneer and created the Amer-I-Can Foundation for Social Change, which is designed to empower individuals to take charge of their lives and achieve their full potential.

“We extend our deepest sympathies to Jim’s wife, Monique, their children, Aris and Morgan, his daughter, Kim, and his sons, Kevin and James Jr.”

A four-sport letterwinner at Syracuse, Brown wore the Block S on the football and lacrosse fields, the basketball court and as a track & field student-athlete. The National Lacrosse Hall of Fame regards Brown as the greatest lacrosse player ever. A two-time lacrosse All-American, Brown was the nation’s second leading scorer as a senior (43 goals in 10 games). As a sophomore, he was the second-leading scorer for the basketball team and earned a letter on the track team. In 1955, he finished in fifth place in the National Championship decathlon.

“Jim Brown was the greatest player to ever play the game,” said Syracuse head football coach Dino Babers. “I remember my dad making me watch his highlights as a kid so I could appreciate his greatness. He was the best of the best and will be forever remembered as a Syracuse legend and the best of all time.”

In 1957, the Cleveland Browns selected Brown with the sixth overall pick in the National Football League Draft. During his nine-year NFL career, Brown earned NFL Rookie of the Year honors, was a two-time league MVP and was selected for the Pro Bowl in every season. With Brown in the backfield, the 1964 Browns won the NFL championship. He retired from the NFL at the age of 29, having set records in single-season rushing, career rushing, rushing touchdowns, total touchdowns and all-purpose yards. He was also the first player to ever reach the 100-rushing-touchdowns milestone. The Browns retired his number 32 jersey.

Following his football career, Brown pursued acting and broadcasting, and was social activist. He appeared in several films throughout the late 1960s and 70s and served as an analyst in football and boxing. In 1988, he founded the Amer-I-Can Program, which focuses on working with at-risk and high-risk youth in underserved schools and juvenile detention facilities and has had a significant impact with adult incarceration and reentry programs.

In 2016, Brown was inducted into the U.S. Army ROTC National Hall of Fame. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant through the Army ROTC in 1957 following his graduation from Syracuse University. After he was selected in the NFL Draft, he also continued his military training commitment at Ft. Benning, Ga. as an Army Reserve officer. Brown continued to serve for four more years and was honorably discharged from the Army Reserve with the rank of captain.

— NCAA

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | March 12th

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NEW YORK – There’s no better way to describe a basketball tournament at The World’s Most Famous Arena than to take you step-by-step from Wednesday through Saturday with an old-fashioned, popular time-line.

Come along on the amazing journey:

Wednesday, March 8:

7:29am – Amtrak Acela pulled out from RTE-128 station in the western suburbs of Boston, heading south to Providence where we picked up some Friars fans and went on to Penn Station in New York, arriving at the brand new Moynihan Train Hall at 10:50am.

7:31am – This reporter started missing his dog (and family, too).

11:00am – First activity? Walked from 8th Ave and 33rd Street to 7th Avenue to enter The Garden and pass security only to walk back to 8th Avenue to pick-up BIG EAST media passes and entrance tickets. The “new” MSG actually has incredibly friendly security people and the place is spotless.

It was the first of about 25 trips from the 8th Avenue end of The Garden to the 7th Avenue entrance hub only to return to the 8th Avenue “Expo/Rotunda” end of the building.

11:05am – The well-oiled BIG EAST media relations and sports info staff had everything perfectly organized, allowing check-in to be done in :45 seconds. Two escalator rides up and into the “Expo,” as the finishing touches were being made to the media area, and we’re online. Nice job MSG!

12 Noon – All were summoned to The Theatre at MSG where Commissioner Val Ackerman was going to present the key awards for the BIG EAST regular season. It’s absolutely GREAT to see colleagues like Ackerman and head basketball man, Stu Jackson. In prelim to her presentations, Ackerman noted it’s 10 years since The BIG EAST broke away from the pack and formed the “basketball centric” conference.

12:05pm – Time well spent and congratulations offered to Jackson, who flew westward to headline a press conference as the new WCC Commissioner. As fyi, Gonzaga defeated St. Mary’s on March 7th to take the WCC title. At the conclusion of this tournament, Jackson will assume his duties as conference commish. He will be missed by all involved with BIG EAST basketball. His new opportunity, probably basing in the SF-Bay area will be tremendous.

At the same time, it was more congratulations to Bill Raftery, tv commentator extraordinaire, who was awarded the Jim “Ock” O’Connell media award for his work and his contributions to college basketball. “Ock,” longtime college and Olympic basketball writer for the Associated Press, was a terrific colleague who lost his battle vs. a series of ailments. He was only 64 at the time of his death in 2018. The press area at MSG is dedicated to O’Connell’s memory each year at the tourney. A fitting tribute.

12:30pm – Villanova first year forward Cam Whitmore has been selected BIG EAST Freshman of the Year. The conference’s head coaches make the selections and are not permitted to vote for their own players.

12:40pm – Marquette’s head coach Shaka Smart was named Conference Coach of the Year and point guard Tyler Kolek was named BIG EAST Player of the Year. Smart’s squad made the biggest leap in conference history, jumping from a No. 9 prediction in the preseason coaches’ poll to outright regular-season champion.

Kolek is the “maestro-style” point guard, averaging 12.7 points with a league-leading 7.9 assists per game, second nationally. The 6-3 junior from Cumberland, Rhode Island (how’d he get away from those Friars), ranks first in assist/turnover ratio at 3.3., which places him sixth amongst all NCAA Div. I players. He’s fifth in the BIG EAST in steals at 1.8pg and ninth in free throw shooting, making .814 percent. Kolek is one of five finalists for the Hall of Fame’s Bob Cousy Award as the nation’s top point guard.

2:30pm – As Butler and St. John’s warm-up, there’s a little more time with Raftery and his longtime chronicler of the BIG EAST and we lament of the loss of Gantry’s and The Sly Fox in Queens. He knew they’d closed down, while others present did not.

Madison Square Garden in New York City

3:00pm – A wonderful rendition of the United States’ National Anthem and we’re tipping off the 41st rendition of the BIG EAST at The Garden, starting after three years when the conference finale was played in Providence, RI, Syracuse, NY and Hartford, CT consecutively.

In the opener, St. John’s handled Butler 76-63, advancing to the tough Thursday match-up vs. No. 1 Marquette. The victory spared Coach Anderson 24 more hours in the eye of the Red Storm (whatever a Red Storm is)?

DePaul vs Seton Hall was the first incredibly hard-fought, close, get-The-Garden-rockin’ game of the tournament and DePaul upset the Hall, plopping them into the group of NIT hopefuls, 66-65. The finish was about as entertaining as three free throws can be as DePaul’s guard Umoja Gibson stepped to the line with his team trailing, 65-63, and drained three consecutive FTs after being fouled with :04 remaining in the 2nd Half. Gibson gets “the Doug Collins Award” for calmly stepping to line in a very loud MSG and hitting nothing but net. DePaul was (3-17) in Conference while Seton Hall was (10-10). (Collins did just that but with two FTs in the 1972 Olympics under incredible pressure after being tackled by the USSR in the controversial gold medal game, stolen from the USA by incompetent table officials, the FIBA President, Renato William Jones of Great Britian and the game officials who followed their instructions blindly). … If you’re young and didn’t see it or don’t remember the game, DO NOT watch. It will haunt you for the rest of your life). … Trust me, too. It wasn’t a “Stop the Steal” thing. The FIBA President came out of the stands to add three seconds to the clock after a series of debacles in the waning moments of the game, including an errant pass by the USSR that should’ve been the official end of the gold medal game. … But, I digress!

In the Villanova vs Georgetown nightcap, everyone was thinking that the ticket stub would be a saver, as it was possibly Patrick Ewing’s last game as the head coach of the Hoyas after a (2-18) BIG EAST record. After a 6-6 start, ‘Nova went on a leisurely 14-2 run and that was it. The halftime score of 41-20 – Villanova – was indicative of the season-long effort from PAT-TRICK Ewwwwwing’s team.

Final score? 80-48 in favor of Villanova and by Thursday morning, yes, Ewing was fired.

Thursday, March 9th

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Now, don’t plan on reading a recap of each and every game, but instead, a brief commentary on the incredibly interesting and entertaining basketball tournament.

12 Noon – The “morning” game when the lightly-tested, Butler-besting Johnnies did the quick turn-around to face No. 1 seeded Marquette was another WILD and CRAZY BIG EAST game. A good crowd filled the building from the get-go. Non-St. John’s fans who flocked to New York to support their own schools jumped on the Johnnies’ band wagon to root against the favored Golden Eagles.

That Garden magic propelled a highly inconsistent St. John’s team to play one of their better games of the 2022-23 season. You must note that St. John’s and Marquette closed out their respective regular seasons with one of the crazier finishes as the Golden Eagles led by 10 with 30 seconds remaining but found themselves needing game ending free throws to earn a 96-94 victory.

In the tournament, it was the opposite. Marquette found themselves trailing by 10 at the half, 36-26, but when the second half began, you truly believed the Johnnies’ scoreboard was stuck on 36 as Marquette held the Red Storm scoreless for the first 4:14 and the first TV timeout showed a one point, 36-35, St. J lead after the momentum and confidence factor did a 180-degree turn.

Fast-forward to the ending and St. John’s A.J. Storr hit three consecutive FTs with 23 seconds remaining to cut a four-point lead to one. Two turnovers (from two steals) later, a Marquette FT by Olivier-Maxence Prosper and then a Dylan Addae-Wusu lay-up tied the game with 10 seconds left. A final scramble resulted in a missed three pointer at 61-all and the morning game went into OT, sending the Garden into another frenzy.

Overtime was physical and the majority of scoring was done from the FT line as the only field goal was Cam Jones’ bucket 30 seconds into OT. In the end, a beautifully designed play with the Storm down by two, saw St. John’s guard, Posh Alexander, launch a three-point FG that looked like all net from one angle of The Garden but it fell short for a 72-70 survive and advance for No. 1 ranked Marquette.

3:00pm – As you might expect, the entire State of Connecticut jammed their way past the turnstiles to fill The Garden with a partisan Huskies crowd and the team delivered against neighboring Providence of Rhode Island. UConn was up by 16 at the half as led by as many as 26 with 12:06 remaining in the 2nd half.

Then it was Rhode Island’s turn to cheer as Providence head coach, Ed Cooley – showing his coaching abilities, his faith in the players and a whole lotta love for the program he’s built – as he “kept his cooling and wasn’t fooling” as the Friars made their way back and trailed by only five points with 48 seconds to go.

UConn prevailed, 73-66, when Tristen Newton drilled a pair of FTs for two of his 16 points off the bench.

7:00pm – In the night session, the best teams prevailed but it took quite an effort for No. 15 (national ranking) Xavier to knock-off the pesky DePaul Blue Demons. DePaul sustained their high-energy in a big way and led 49-40 at the half.

BIG EAST men’s basketball Scholar Athlete of the Year in 6-10 center Jack Nunge had 23 points and 10 rebounds, while Colby Jones scored 22 and the Musketeers pulled off a late comeback to beat DePaul, 89-84.

Coach Sean Miller, all mic’d up for the evening, noted to his team post game that he kept calling Jones’ number and the player delivered time-and-time again, allowing his Xavier team to experience one of the “greatest things,” in sports – “playing on Friday night at the BIG EAST tournament at The Garden.”

It’s magical.

9:50pm – Late night at The Garden provided for Creighton’s 87-74 dismissal of the former lock for BIG EAST champions in Villanova. The ‘Cats aren’t as tough as they were under retired coach Jay Wright, as they ended the season with a 17-16 record and will end a 10-year streak of NCAA appearances in exchange for an NIT bid.

Friday, March 10th

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With an afternoon off to “recover” from the Wednesday/Thursday marathon sessions, the BIG EAST semi-finals, a.k.a. “Friday Night at the Garden” tips-off at 6:30pm and can be described as “magical,” as in The Magical World of Madison Square Garden Center – the tagline coined by the late John Condon on the MSG public address in the late ‘60s.

The four teams that make their way to Friday night are pretty much locks for bids to the NCAA tournament, so they play for the pride and glory of being BIG EAST champions. It never disappoints.

Never.

The Garden is packed. Everyone in the building (usually with friends, college buddies, family) is happy to be right here, rather than anywhere else on earth. It’s a bit like sitting in your seat a few minutes before the curtain rises at Hamilton the Musical. There’s no place else you’d rather be.

6:30pm – Marquette vs. UConn is the first semifinal, but there’s no BIG EAST basketball fan who wouldn’t prefer to see those two teams meeting Saturday night in the BIG EAST Final. Conference Coach of the Year, Shaka Smart is matching basketball minds and chops vs. UConn’s Dan Hurley, one-time Seton Hall guard, Wagner and Rhode Island head coach. His brother, Bobby, is head coach out at Arizona State and has a chance of an NCAA berth. Their father, Bobby Hurley, Sr., is a Hall of Fame high school basketball – as in THE Basketball Hall of Fame.

You probably have read the game stories by now, but Marquette vs UConn was what we attendees of the 1983 BIG EAST tourney, the first here at MSG after three nomadic efforts in Providence, Syracuse and Hartford, might call “an Old-Fashioned” BIG EAST game.

IT’s WILD.

Smart’s Golden Eagles somehow turned back a better UConn squad in another survive and advance mode.

In the Semifinals, Marquette won 70-68 to send at least 12,000+ UConn crazies home disappointed. Without the pre-electronic ticket ability to scalp tickets from the losing schools right on the premises, UConn fans work the Stub Hubs and the Vivid Seats and the Ticket Geeks and even the Box Office and TicketMaster to gobble up every available seat in The Garden.

9:10pm – In the nightcap, No. 15 Xavier rolled on No. 24 Creighton, 80-62.

After all of the pressure-packed, exciting games, the late night semi was one of the few games not to deliver the juice as The Garden gradually emptied out.

By day’s end, St. John’s head coach. Mike Anderson, had a faded red slip and all the rumors had Iona’s disgraced coach, Rick Pitino, as signed sealed and delivered to yet another Catholic School, as he was still coaching his Iona Gaels towards the MAAC championship. (They defeated Marist, 76-55, to advance to the Big Dance with Pitino apparently holding a contract offer from one NYC school as he coached their rival Westchester County foes). Go figure, as St. John’s Anderson and Georgetown’s Patrick Ewing walked into The Garden and the tournament with a pair of the most prestigious coaching jobs in all of sport, and they walked out on the unemployment line.

Saturday, March 11th

6:30pm – No. 1 seeded Marquette, ranked No. 6 nationally, marched off to to 12-2 start and never looked back in the BIG EAST Championship game. They led 33-10 when Conference Player of the Year Tyler Kolek made a lay-up with 7:04 left in the opening half.

Kolek led the Golden Eagles with 20 points, eight rebounds and three assists and Marquette won its first-ever BIG EAST men’s basketball championship in a 65-51, one-sided rout.

In the end, the tough, physical Marquette defense – coach Shaka Smart called it violent – was the reason the championship trophy took a ride to Milwaukee after the all Midwest/Rustbelt BIG EAST final.

Hello? Amtrak?

 

WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: With apologies to Billy Joel – who is now on tour with Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks – “It’s 5 AM on a Saturday and Ohtani gives me a smile, because the World Baseball Classic can be, one of the most entertaining events you can see, when the fans at the Big Egg cheer for a while.”

Saturday morning, Japan defeated the Czech Republic, 10-2, at Tokyo Dome (a.k.a. The Big Egg) and are now 3-0 in their pool.

The USA has yet to play but will open Saturday evening with a game against Great Britain at Chase Field in Arizona. For you early morning readers on Sunday, FS1 will be televising Japan vs Australia at 6:00AM (ET).

Much like the FIBA World Cup, this event struggles to get traction in the USA, but the fans around the world seem to love it, especially in Japan. You can count Puerto Rico, The Dominican Republic, Mexico and Venezuela amongst the national teams with the most support.

You must credit Major League Baseball with their efforts to fund and keepin’ on, keepin’ on with the event. If they continue to pound the drum, the event will thrive. It’s halfway there in the USA and Canada.

The time zone challenge is a lot like what the USA TV viewers face when World Cup level events are in Australia, Asia and the Middle East.